Islamic Solidarity Games:
Iran braces for ‘mini World Cup’ test in futsal
The futsal competition at the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games will be among the most highly-anticipated events in Riyadh, as six of the eight participating teams featured at last year’s World Cup in Uzbekistan.
Record 13-time Asian Cup champion Iran will be joined by African powerhouse Morocco, as well as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, in Group B, while Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Libya, and Azerbaijan complete the lineup in Group A.
Recently-crowned AFC Player of the Year Salar Aqapour and three former winners of the prestigious prize – Hossein Tayyebi, Saeid Ahmadabbasi, and Moslem Oladqobad – will spearhead Iran’s 14-man squad in the Saudi capital.
Baqer Mohammadi, Behzad Rasouli, Mohammadhossein Derakhshani, Mahdi Karimi, Masoud Yousef, Behrouz Azimi, Hossein Sabzi, Mohammadhossein Bazyar, Amirhossein Gholami, and Ali Khalilvand complete the Iranian roster as head coach Vahid Shamsaei, having named a full-strength squad, aims to go all out for glory at the Games.
“This is going to be a mini World Cup in Riyadh,” Shamsaei’s number two Mahmoud Khorakchi told Varzesh3 before Iran left for the Games on Friday.
“Morocco is literally a global powerhouse of the game. We recently watched them in a couple of friendlies against Spain last week. They were tactically spot-on and came away with the victory. They excel in every tactical aspect of the game – in attack, in defense, on set-pieces – and possess everything it takes to be a top-tier futsal team,” added the Iranian coach.
Iran will face Morocco in the group opener on Tuesday – a rematch of last year’s World Cup knockout encounter, which the African side came from behind to win and progress to the quarterfinal.
Iran’s second outing in Riyadh will be against Afghanistan on Thursday, followed by the final group game against Tajikistan on Saturday.
“Afghanistan has also been turning heads, both at the World Cup and in the recent Asian tournaments. Argentina only managed a narrow 2-1 victory over them at the World Cup. They are a team we are watching very closely.
“Just like Afghanistan, Tajikistan has been on a sharp upward trajectory, earning a spot at the previous World Cup. They will undoubtedly be a tough opponent for any team and should not be underestimated,” Khorakchi said of the tow rising powers in Asian futsal.
Iran made hard work of a 3-1 win over Afghanistan when the two sides met in the 2024 Asian Cup group stage, while Tajikistan was somewhat unfortunate to finish fourth after back-to-back shootout defeats – against Thailand in the semifinals and Uzbekistan in the bronze-medal match.
“All four teams in this group have now competed on the biggest stage, which raises the stakes and makes every match in this group critically important,” Khorakchi insisted.
The top two teams in each group will advance to semifinals, with the final showpiece set to be staged at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Olympic Complex – Green Hall on November 11.